Why Not, Indeed
by A Whisper Of Grace
Summary: Killian meets Ruby whilst on vacation, and both of them are convinced that one of the barstaff, Emma, is flirting with the other. AU. Captain Red Swan.


**Written for a prompt on Tumblr for Captain Red Swan on vacation. Broaching an M rating toward the end.**

Taking a deep breath in, Killian let it out slowly, feeling all of the tension drain out of his body as he did so. Tuning out the sound of laughter and splashing from the nearby pool until it became irrelevant background noise, he focused on the feeling of the hot midafternoon sun soaking into his skin as he stretched out on the sunchair.

Liam was right. He'd _needed _this.

It had taken his brother an awful lot of convincing before Killian had agreed to take some time off, but in the end he'd run out of excuses. He hadn't been away since he'd broken up with Milah, choosing to throw himself into the business that he and Liam shared doing boating tours. He'd been the most reluctant to go on vacation alone, but Liam had assured him that he'd get the most out of it that way if he was looking for some downtime and sent him straight off to a resort on the coast.

Opening his eyes, he sat forward, scratching at his bare chest and trying to remember how long it had been since he'd applied sunscreen. Picking up his glass from the floor, he sipped at his rum, deciding that he didn't feel like he was cooking just yet.

_I could get used to -_

His thought was interrupted by a sudden feeling of cold and wet and he froze in place, his brain taking a few seconds to catch up with what had happened. Staring through his now blurry sunglasses to the glass in his hand - now full, where it had been almost empty a moment ago - it finally clicked that whatever _had_ happened, he was now covered in chlorinated water, and his free hand immediately went to his pocket before he remembered that his phone was safely in his room.

Pushing himself into a sitting position, he looked around for the culprit, scowling and preparing to snap at whichever kid had caused him to become drenched - he wasn't even _that_ close to the pool, he had no idea how they'd managed it - but before he could stand up someone was there, throwing a towel over him.

'I am _so _sorry,' she said, and he was too surprised to even protest at first as she rubbed at him thoroughly with her towel. Her dark, wet hair fell in the way of her face and he felt a bizarre urge to push it back, all thoughts of inconvenience forgotten. 'My friend pushed me in, I could kill him. I haven't damaged anything, have I?'

He felt his eyebrows shoot up. '_You_ made that splash?' he asked disbelievingly, unable to stop himself from glancing over her slender form.

The woman stopped rubbing at him, pushing her hair out of her eyes and finally looking up at him. She was gorgeous, dark eyes watching him with a spark of challenge in them, her full lips painted an inviting red. He made himself keep his eyes on hers. 'You'd be surprised,' she said dryly. 'I am not graceful. At all.'

Somehow, he doubted that.

Feeling something cold on his leg, he forced his eyes from hers, relieved when it was nothing more sinister than her hair dripping on his skin. She followed his gaze, though, and didn't seem to think it so harmless from the rough curse that escaped her, making his lips twitch in amusement as she pulled her towel down to dab at his legs. 'I'm just making more of a mess of things,' she muttered under her breath, then groaned when she saw the glass in his hand. 'And I ruined your drink, too? I'm terrible. I suck.'

'You don't -' he started, but stopped when she snatched the ruined drink from his hand.

'Yes, I do, but I'll make it up to you. Come on, let me replace this.'

He stood up slowly, still feeling confused about what was happening, but touched her arm to stop her before she headed toward the bar. 'Wait, love,' he said, picking up his folded towel from the ground and holding it out to her. Somehow, it had escaped the splash of water. 'Yours it wet now, use mine.'

A smile spread slowly across her face, lighting it up, and he decided he liked it much more this way than etched in worry and embarrassment. 'Thanks,' she said, taking it from him and scrunching it around her hair to stop it dripping before wiping it quickly over herself. Handing it back to him, she disappeared for a moment, returning wearing a pair of shorts that barely covered more than her bikini bottoms, and the two of them headed to the bar.

'You really don't have to,' he insisted.

She only waved her hand dismissively, leaning one elbow on the counter and smiling warmly at the person behind the bar. 'I'll have a strawberry daiquiri,' she said, 'plus whatever he's having.'

Turning to the bar, he paused as he took in the woman standing behind it. She was beautiful as well, her face rounder, her eyes lighter, her blonde hair pulled into a ponytail. And she was looking at him expectantly. 'I'll just have a beer,' he said, reluctant to spend any more of her money than he had to.

'No, he won't,' the brunette said beside him, and as he turned to her, he saw the blonde's lips curl up as she looked between them. 'You weren't just drinking beer.'

'My drink was almost empty,' he insisted.

'What's your poison?'

'I really don't -'

'Did you serve him before?' She turned back to the barwoman, interrupting and then ignoring him. He followed her gaze, sighing in feigned exasperation.

The blonde was looking at him carefully, her mouth pinched like she was hiding a grin. 'No, I'd have remembered those baby blues,' she said cheekily, and he felt the tips of his ears redden as the brunette laughed. 'But...' Her eyes narrowed for a moment, then she nodded in satisfaction. 'Rum. Straight or on the rocks, but not mixed.'

He couldn't help but laugh. 'Straight is fine,' he said, impressed. 'That's a skill you've got there.'

She shrugged as she grabbed a tumbler and a fancy cocktail glass from the bench behind her. 'I've done this a while,' she said, winking at the woman beside him.

When their drinks were ready, she grabbed them both and he could only follow behind her again as she led him over to a small table just a few metres from the bar. 'Sit,' she said, gesturing to the seat where she'd placed his drink. 'I'm Ruby, by the way,' she said as he sat down.

'Killian,' he told her, raising his drink to her in thanks before he took a sip.

'Hi Killian,' she said with a grin. 'She, by the way, is Emma, according to her nametag,' she added, nodding toward the bar where the blonde was lining up glasses. 'And she absolutely has the hots for you.'

'I don't think so,' he scoffed, silently pleased at the idea. But that was ridiculous, because, 'Didn't you see her wink at you? It's not me she liked the look of.'

Ruby laughed again, and he decided that he liked the sound very much. 'Please. You clearly didn't see the looks she was throwing you.'

He could not remember the last time he'd just had so much _fun._

Ruby was easily one of the most entertaining women that he'd met, and he was surprised to realise the time when his stomach grumbled rather loudly. His seat by the pool had long been forgotten, her friends waved away an hour or so ago when she'd insisted that she was fine and she'd catch up with them later, and both of them were in a happily tipsy place as they dug into a shared plate of fries.

'Look at how much sauce she gave you,' he said, pointing at the full-to-the-brim sauce dish on the side of the plate.

'Yeah, after you ordered it,' Ruby pointed out, taking a chip and swirling it through the said condiment.

That was true, he admitted silently, flicking her fingers away so he could have some. 'I'm pretty sure she undercharged me, too,' he added, trying to remember how much change he'd gotten back.

Ruby snorted, and he smiled at the way she seemed so comfortable with him. Or perhaps that was the alcohol speaking. Or maybe she was just like that all the time. 'She's been undercharging me all night,' she said with a smirk, before dodging the fry that he threw at her.

'As well as that time that she _accidentally_ made too much of your cocktail so you had to have an extra one for free?'

'It happens,' Ruby insisted.

_Sure._

Much of their night had been like this, both of them alternatively insisting that Emma the barwoman was flirting with themselves and then the other. Killian was well aware that she could very well have just been friendly, or bored, but neither of them had yet gotten bored of the debate of it. He had to admit, he'd not have minded if she was interested - there was a glint in her eye when he spoke to her that intrigued him - but he also found himself unwilling to leave Ruby's company.

'It's gotten busy,' Killian said when Emma finally made her way over to him. It was a little after eight, and the little bar by the pool was surprisingly crowded - or perhaps not, considering the warmth of the night. He'd pulled his shirt on a little while ago but it was in no way cold, and the alcohol in his veins was helping to keep his veins warm. As was the easy smile that Emma offered him as she pulled up a fresh glass.

'It makes the shift go quick,' she said with a shrug.

Resting his elbows on the bar, he leaned forward, pushing his lip out in a pout. 'Have we been boring you, love?'

She gave him a long look, and he thrilled at the amusement in her green eyes. 'Hardly,' she said dryly, setting his rum on the counter.

'Could we have a few shots as well, please?' he asked quickly.

'Of?'

He grinned at her widely. 'I don't know, love. You tell me.'

She paused, eyeing him curiously. 'I can't drink while I'm working,' she said after a moment, then turned away, reaching for a bottle of tequila. He was unsurprised by her answer, but couldn't deny his disappointment that she couldn't join them. She poured two shots quickly, placing them on a tray with some napkins before adding his rum. 'The shots are on the house. Take the tray,' she said, flashing a smile at him before turning to her next customer.

'Free shots,' he told Ruby as he slid into his seat beside her, placing the tray on the table.

'Don't mind the shots,' she said, snatching the napkin off of the top of the small pile. As she looked at it, a slow smile spread across her face, and he wondered what she'd seen that he'd missed. 'Well, look at that,' she sang, dropping the napkin onto the table in front of it.

There were words written on it in a rough scribble, and he twisted around to read it. _I can't drink now, but I'm off in half an hour - E._

He slowly raised his eyes to Ruby's, his grin a match for hers. 'This looks like it's about to get interesting.'

It was forty five minutes before Emma joined them, placing another tray with three shot glasses and a half empty bottle of tequila on it in front of them before pulling up another chair and dropping into it with a groan. 'It feels good to sit down,' she said, rolling her shoulders. She paused, glancing between them, and Killian realised that he'd been busted staring at the long slope of her neck, shown off easily in her black tank top. From the way Ruby had pulled her lip in between her teeth, a touch of red on her cheeks, he had the feeling that she had been as well. 'That's for sharing,' Emma said, sounding unperturbed by their obvious perusal of her. 'Help yourself.'

Killian reached out immediately, twisting the cap off of the bottle and filling all three glasses. Emma took the one closest to her with a nod of thanks, tossing it back with a sigh. 'I needed that,' she said, putting the shot glass back on the table.

Picking up one of the other glasses, Ruby held it out to Emma, who frowned. 'Don't tell me that you've stopped drinking,' she protested.

'Not at all,' Ruby said, and Emma slowly took the glass from her, relaxing when Ruby picked up the other one. 'You've just got some catching up to do,' she said before downing her shot, winking at Killian as she set it down and poured another for each of them.

'All right, I have to know.'

Killian leaned back in his seat and looked at Ruby, one eyebrow raised in inquiry. She gave him a long look, before turning to Emma, and he quickly realised where she was going with this. Earlier in the night, he'd have felt too uncomfortable to ask outright, and knew she'd feel the same, but they'd been drinking and laughing together for another hour or two now, and he felt just as at ease with the two of them as he did with anyone else. It was hard for him to believe that he'd only met both women today.

Now that they'd had Emma's presence on this side of the bar, he'd found her to be just as delightful as Ruby, if in a different way. Her humour was more sarcastic, but just as strong, and the conversation hadn't dropped once. Not five minutes ago, Ruby and Emma had been clutching at each other with laughter, Ruby flashing him a smug look, but when Emma had returned from the bathroom just now, her chair had somehow ended up closer to his, and now he could feel the warmth of her thigh pressed all the way along his.

Ruby leaned forward, drawing Emma's attention. 'Have you been flirting with me all night, or Killian? Or is it neither of us, and we're just two self absorbed idiots?'

There was a thick moment of silence as Emma looked slowly from Ruby to Killian, and he felt his blood heat under her gaze. More so, when her hand moved from her thigh to his, while the other reached across the table to twist her fingers with Ruby's. 'Why can't it be both?'

His gaze darted to Ruby, finding her turning to look at him as well, a cheeky sort of inquiry in her eyes. His tongue flicked out to wet his lips.

Why not, indeed.

Ruby's room was closest, but she was sharing with a friend (and none of them wanted to share with anyone else). Killian led the way to his room, fumbling with his door card before he finally got it open, flicking the light on, dropping the card and turning -

He swallowed back the moan that threatened to spill out, not wanting to appear too eager, but it was hard it was a hard thing. Ruby was pressed against the door, Emma's leg between hers, her hands tugging on blonde hair, kissing each other slowly. It was hypnotic, watching Emma's figure in her tight jeans and tank top, pressing her hips into Ruby.

Just as he was about to work himself back into the situation, Emma did it for him, turning from Ruby and stepping up to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and closing her mouth over his. His arms came around her immediately, his lips parting with hers and pulling her to him more forcefully, craving the feel of her curves against him. She tasted like cherries, and he wondered whether that was truly her or Ruby's influence.

Then there was a hand in his hair, tugging his mouth from Emma's and claiming it herself, and he groaned aloud at the feeling of the two of them pressed against him. As his one hand grasped at Emma's ass, Ruby took his other and pulled it up to cup her breast, and she revelled in the way she gasped into his kiss as her thumb rubbed over her nipple through her bathers.

It took a strong effort to drag himself away even for a moment, but he managed to drag them to the bedroom. And, as he watched them undress each other on his bed, he struggled to think how his night could get any better.

He woke early, in a tangle of limbs and hair in his face and pulled them both closer, content to just enjoy the warmth of a naked human body (or two) against his. Until he wasn't, and decided to see how long it would take him to wake Ruby with his mouth on her. Emma woke to Ruby's sleepy moans first, and joined in readily.

Emma slipped out while Ruby jumped in the shower, and by the time he'd finished cleaning up himself, she'd returned with coffee and breakfast from the kitchen.

_This,_ he thought, watching them fight over the last piece of bacon with a smile. _The banter, the easiness. This is what I like._ And it was just as easy with both of them.

He tried not to think about going home at the end of the week.


End file.
